Maintaining the Privacy of Human Trafficking Victims

Munger, Tolles & Olson attorneys successfully represented the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) in maintaining the confidentiality of the location of its shelter housing trafficking survivors and their families.

Opened in 2004 as the first shelter in the nation designed to serve trafficking survivors, the shelter’s location is kept confidential in order to provide the physical and psychological security needed to move a trafficking victim to recovery.

With the assistance of Munger Tolles lawyers, CAST challenged a judge’s order to disclose the shelter’s address. Munger Tolles lawyers filed a motion for a protective order asserting the privacy interests of CAST as well as six declarations from, among others, a psychologist and a police lieutenant.

On Feb. 13, Judge Mitchell Beckloff of the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted CAST’s motion for the protective order thereby reversing the prior order for disclosure of the shelter.

Truc T. Do, Anjan Choudhury and Rose Ehler handled the pro bono matter on behalf of CAST, which is the nation’s largest service provider devoted solely to assisting survivors of human trafficking and slavery.

Ms. Do is a litigator who has tried more than 75 jury trials to verdict. Her practice focuses on trials, complex business litigation and white collar criminal defense and death investigations.

Mr. Choudhury is a litigator whose practice includes a wide variety of matters involving complex civil, administrative and appellate litigation, focusing primarily on matters for clients in the entertainment industry.